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NATIONAL POLITICS. 


STEECH 


V 

M 


\v / ' l‘ ■ ■ : 

HON. .1. II. JEWETT, OF KENTUCKY, 


.DELIVERED IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, JULY 25, 1856. 


/o 


VS 


The House being in the Committee of the Whole on the 
sfcate of the Union, 

Mr. JEWETT said: 

Mr. Chairman: I do not intend at this time to 
enter into a discussion of all the various and im¬ 
portant political questions of a sectional charac¬ 
ter now agitating the public mind, believing as 1 
do that many of them have been sufficiently dis¬ 
cussed both in and out of Congress, to enable 
the people of the whole country to weigh, and 
dispassionately and impartially to judge of their 
merits, in so far as they may be involved in the 
great political struggle through which we are now 
passing. What 1 more especially design, Mr. 
Chairman, is, briefly to examine into the status 
of the three principal parties now seeking the 
confidence ana support of the people, and striving 
with great energy and zeal for the control of the 
Federal Government. ♦ 

In my remarks here to-day, I wish it to be un¬ 
derstood that I am not only speaking to the rep¬ 
resentatives of the people of the United States in 
Congress assembled; but that lam also speaking 
for, and to the people of my own State and dis¬ 
trict, to whom alone I am responsible for what I 
sway say ordo here in my representative capacity, 
and whose interests I represent on this floor. The 
parties now organized, and which are deemed 
worthy of consideration, are the great national 
Democratic party, (in which I feel proud to claim 
membership,) the Republican or Abolition, and 
the Know Nothing parties. 

The principles of the Democratic party are so 
well known, and so fully indicated in the plat¬ 
form announced by its late national convention, 
that it would be superfluous to attempt to en¬ 
lighten the public mind in reference either to its 
principles or policy. 

The self-styled Republican party have nomin¬ 
ated for the office of President and Vice President 
of the United States, men of notorious hostility 
to southern interests and institutions, both of 
whom reside in the free States, and so indifferent 
to the feelings of the South, or so sensible of the 
folly of seeking its suffrage, that it does not even 


deign to nominate an electoral ticket throughout 
the southern States. Such a party, ignoring 
nationality by its very party tactics, and scouting 
all precedent as well as principle in its warfare, 
must, if successful, seriously jeopardize the sta¬ 
bility of this great and glorious Union. For I 
am very confident that no southern man could or 
would desire to live under a Gpvernment in which 
he had practically no voice, and whose powers 
would be wielded for his injury and oppression. 
If this party, whose success rests solely upon 
sectional grounds, should succeed in elevating 
two Free-Soil, free-State, and free-negro men to 
the Presidency and Vice Presidency, it is reason¬ 
able to suppose that in like manner will the Gov¬ 
ernment be organized, and all the high offices 
thereof filled with the worst enemies of the South 
and her institutions, in which event it would be¬ 
come a grave question with the South how long 
she would submit to such rulers. Whether this 
party shall succeed in carrying the northern 
States for their candidates is a question for the 
people of the North to determine for themselves: 
we of the South cannot control the result, and 
are not, therefore, responsible for it. But 
whether they are to be aided in their unholy cru¬ 
sade by dissensions and divisions in the southern 
States involves us in the gravest responsibility, 
and demands our earnest and immediate consid¬ 
eration and action. 

These dissensions are most to be apprehended 
from the influence of the third party, commonly 
called the Know Nothing party—the party now 
in power in the State which I have the honor 
in part to represent. This, instead of being re¬ 
garded as a party in the true sense in which we 
are accustomed to understand and use that term, 
should be considered rather as an organization— 
a sort of Government within the limits of the 
General and State Governments, assuming to ex¬ 
ercise executive, legislative, and judicial authority, 
with power to administer oaths, and to punish 
its members for a violation of them; recognizing 
each other by signs and grips unknown to any 
one outside of their organization. This is the 










party with which the people of Kentucky and 
the whole South have to contend in the great con¬ 
test now just commenced; and it is, in my judg¬ 
ment, the most dangerous party that has been 
formed in this country since the Revolution. 
Yet, I am free to believe that many—very many— 
good and patriotic men went into the organiza¬ 
tion from good and pure motives, whilst the larger 
portion joined it to break down the Democratic 
party. 

Mr. Chairman, I have said that the Know 
Nothing, or, if you choose, the intense American 
party, is the most dangerous political organiza¬ 
tion which has been formed in this country since 
the Revolution. This I repeat; and this propo¬ 
sition I now propose briefly to consider. Its 
danger consists, in the first place, in its advocacy 
of principles and policy in direct conflict with 
the letter and spirit of the Federal, as well as the 
constitution of every State of this Union, so far 
as I have examined them—certainly in violation 
of the constitution of the Commonwealth of Ken¬ 
tucky; in establishing a form of government, and 
a system of elections, or nominations, (which 
amount to an election where they have the ma¬ 
jority;) by swearing their members in advance 
to support whomsoever their leaders may nom¬ 
inate, without its being known who the can- 
date is; by prohibiting any of their members 
from becoming candidates for office, either judi¬ 
cial, legislative, or executive, without a license 
first obtained from the order; by establishing a 
system of secret balloting in their councils, in 
direct conflict with the laws of Kentucky and 
other States who adhere with manly firmness to 
the practice of their fathers of viva voce voting; 
and in requiring their memhers to take and sub¬ 
scribe a solemn oath to support no man for any 
office in the gift of the American people who is 
not in favor of Protestant American-born citi¬ 
zens only filling every office, high or low, of every 
grade, character, and description, in the country. 
That there may be no misunderstanding in re¬ 
gard to the solemn obligation imposed on their 
members before they are admitted into their 
order, 1 will here read the oath, as administered 
in Kentucky: • 

“ That you will not vote, nor give your influence for any 
man for any office in the gift of the people, unless he be 
an American born citizen, in favor of Americans ruling 
America, nor if he be a Koman Catholic.” 

• For the purpose of contrasting this obligation 
with the Constitution of the United States, I will 
here read so much of the Constitution of the latter 
as bears upon the question: 

“ But no religious test shall ever be required as a qualifi¬ 
cation to any office or public trusfunder the United States.” 

. Having read, for the consideration of the com¬ 
mittee and the country, the obligation required by 
the members of this peculiar political organiza¬ 
tion, and the Constitution of the Union, so 
that it may be readily seen wherein they conflict, 
1 proceed to remark further upon the point 
which I have been considering; that is, that this 
organization is more dangerous to the. interest 
and rights of the South, than even the.Qi-ganiza 1 
ti'on of the Republicans'at the North. This is 
strong language, but not stronger thaii the facts 


of the case and the history of this organization 
will warrant. Of what does the South com¬ 
plain of the North? Do we complain of them 
because they do not hold slaves like ourselves? 
Do we complain of them because they choose to 
condemn the institution of slavery? If they do 
so on proper occasions, in a proper spirit, and in 
the right places—certainly not; but we do com¬ 
plain of them, and rightfully too, for refusing to 
comply with the guarantees of the Constitution 
of the Federal Union, in regard to our slaves. 
In a word, we complain of them for violating a 
plain provision of the Federal Constitution. In 
this, we of the South say, that the Constitution 
of the United States requires that fugitives from 
labor, escaping into the free States, shall, upon 
demand, be given up. The Republicans or Abo¬ 
litionists of the North say that there is a law above 
the Constitution^ and that that law teaches them 
that slavery is an evil, and that they will not 
observe this guarantee of the Constitution in ref¬ 
erence to it. It is, then, because of a refusal of 
the majority in some of the northern States to 
preserve the Constitution inviolate that we of the 
South complain. 

We complain further of the aggressive policy 
of the North in denying to the southern people 
the right to go into the territories of the Union— 
acquired by the common treasure and blood of 
the people of the whole Union—with their slave 
po'rperty: this is what we complain of. And 
when the whole complaint is thus made, and 
understood, it is nothing more nor less than a 
violated Constitution which is complained of by 
the South. And now I submit it to the judgment 
of this House, if this is a greater violation of the 
Federal Constitution than the obligation and hor¬ 
rid oaths taken and subscribed by the intense 
Americans? Are not the religious and political 
rights of a native-born Roman Catholic citizen as 
dear to him as is the rj^ght which he and others 
of his fellow-citizens have, to hold and enjoy 
their slave property under the Constitution ? Are 
not the rights of a naturalized citizen, under the 
Constitution and laws of the country, as sacred 
as either of the rights above-mentioned ? Most 
assuredly they are; but this is not all. If we of 
the South violate the Constitution in one regard,, 
how can we demand of the people of the North to 
observe it in matters affecting us and our rights ? 
If we become fanatical on the subject of religion, 
and of races, in so far as to violate constitutions, 
both State and National, how can we, as honest 
men, hold up the Constitution of the Union to 
the people of the North, and demand of them 
to preserve intact that sacred instrument? We 
of the southern States should faithfully sustain 
the Constitution in its purity, before we can right¬ 
fully, or successfully, demand of others a similar 
observance of our constitutional rights. It will 
not do to say that there is a dangerous foreign 
element in the country, and that the tendency of 
the Roman Catholic religion is anti-republican, 
and corrupting to the morals of our people, and 
that, therefore, we are justified in banding to¬ 
gether in secret conclave, and in a manner 
unknown and unrecognized by the Constitution 
and laws of the country, virtually to disfranchise 
















3 


class of our fellow-citizens whose religious 
views may differ from our own; for this would 
be but reestablishing that odious and long-ex¬ 
ploded system of religious and sectarian tests 
which, whenever it has been practiced, has only 
served to disgrace and injure the cause of true 
piety, and to retard the prosperity of the State. 
It has always been the pride and boast of our 
Republic, that the avenue to power, to place, and 
to political elevation, was widely open to all of 
our citizens; and nothing could be further from 
the practice of the country, since the foundation 
of our free institutions, or more adverse to the 
spirit of its Constitution>and laws, than the pro¬ 
scription of men from office merely on account of 
their religious tenets, no matter how spotless may 
have been their lives, what services they may 
have rendered the State, or what assurances of 
patriotism they may, through a long life, have 
given. Yet, because they hold certain dogmas 
not in accordance with our own, they are, for¬ 
sooth, to be excluded from all places of honor, 
trust, or profit, in the administration of the Gov¬ 
ernment, State and Federal! This principle of 
the intense American party, of excluding from 
public employment our Catholic and naturalized 
citizens, and all others icho will not consent that 
none but native-born Protestant American citizens, 
who will take their oaths, and subscribe their consti¬ 
tution, and learn their signs and grips, is held by the 
Democratic party to be a palpable violation of the 
spirit, if not of the letter, of the Constitution. 

I am aware, Mr. Chairman, of the argument 
used by the exclusive party, in defending this 
principle of intense Americanism. When charged 
with proscription, the argument is, that they 
proscribe no one—that they merely pledge them¬ 
selves not to vote for those who will not agree 
with them in their peculiar notions of ruling 
America. Well, sir, suppose that I were to agree 
with them—that in strict speech or in estimation 
of law, that their principles, as just stated, are 
not proscriptive, which I do not; still it is a 
dangerous violation of the spirit of that clause of 
the Constitution which I have quoted, which de¬ 
clares “ there shall be no religious test for any 
office or trust under the Constitution.” And 
again, if it should be considered that there is no 
proscription in the principles of this party, dare 
any sane man stand up here and say that it is 
not as cruel and illegal a combination (and by 
that I mean a conspiracy) against the political 
and civil rights of our Catholic and naturalized 
citizens, and all others who oppose them, as ever 
animated the hearts, or nerved the arms of a body 
of conspirators deliberately bent on mischief? 

Sir, if, by an act of the Legislature, I am shut 
out from the enjoyment of a constitutional right, 

I have a remedy; I may either take the Constitu¬ 
tion and the illegal enactment, and lay both be¬ 
fore my fellow-countrymen, and insist on its re¬ 
peal, or I may complain to the courts, and have 
the unconstitutional law set aside; but if Know- 
Nothingism prevails, and 1 am surrounded by a 
majority of that order, I am wholly without rem¬ 
edy. I am not permitted to go into their councils, 
and demand to oe heard there, for their doors are 
closed against me. I cannot successfully appeal 


to the popular voice for redress, for a majority 
are sworn—yes, sir, thrice sworn, not to heed, 
even if they would consent to hear me. So that 
it is wholly immaterial whether it is proscription 
ora conspiracy: either one is btxd enough, and 
both violative of the spirit of the Constitution of 
the United States, and the constitution of the 
commonwealth of which I am proud to be a cit¬ 
izen. 

But, sir, there is another clause of the Federal 
Constitution which it is proper to be noticed in 
this connection: it is that clause which locks up 
the office of President and Vice President of the 
United States to natives of American soil, and 
here the interdiction stops. Now, I submit, with 
confidence, to the intelligence of this committee, 
and to the unbiased judgment of my fellow-citi¬ 
zens everywhere, does not that man violate this 
clause of the Constitution who, by his vote and 
every act, carries this interdiction one step fur¬ 
ther than where the Constitution left it? 

I will not press the constitutional view of this 
question any further, but will turn my attention 
somewhat to the effects of this organization upon 
the social habits of our people, and the good order 
and quiet of the same; its pledges to the country, 
if the people would but sanction it, and to the 
first fruits of the order. 

We were promised that all political strife should 
be done away; that there was to be no more 
electioneering; that the offices were to seek the 
men, and not the men the offices; that order and 
quiet should reign supreme; and, finally, that we 
should have better men in office; and in the South 
we were promised a party sound and national on 
the vexed question of slavery. Have these prom¬ 
ises been kept—these pledges redeemed; if so, 
when, where, and by whom? Let the elections 
of last year, in many places, and particularly in 
the city of Louisville, in my State, answer to the 
declaration so often made “ of no more election-? 
eering”—“ no wild hunt after office.” 

It is a notorious fact, Mr. Chairman, that, not¬ 
withstanding the many shrieks for freedom that 
we hear daily and almost hourly on this floor, 
raised in behalf of the people of Kansas, notwith¬ 
standing the many appeals to Congress and the 
country to interpose in behalf of the alleged suf¬ 
ferers in that Territory, there has not been in the 
whole Territory since its organization, a tithe 
of the property destroyed, houses burned, or 
homicides committed, as was the destruction of 
human life and property in the city of Louisville 
on the 6th day of August last; and yet we have not 
heard a complaint raised in this Hall—not a word 
of rebuke for the party in power there for a failure 
promptly to arrest and punish the rioters of that 
day. And while the shriekers for freedom and 
liberty, and oppressed Kansas, have maintained 
a profound silence in regard to the riots instiga¬ 
ted, both in Louisville, Cincinnati, and other 
places, by the Know Nothings, the latter party 
in turn maintain a like profound silence in refer¬ 
ence to the Black Republican party. And although 
the Know Nothings on this floor are always ready 
to attack the Democratic party, the only national 
party in the country, I have yet to witness the 
first word of rebuke from the Know Nothings, 


/ 















4 


of the Republican party, since the organization 
of this House. These, sir, are some of the fruits 
of intense Americanism; but they are not all. 

The elections of the past summer, in my State, 
were carried for the self-styled American party 
on the twelfth section of the Philadelphia plat¬ 
form; and, strange to relate, the first Legislature 
which assembled after the election repudiated said 
twelfth section, by refusing to indorse so much 
of the message of Governor Morehead as related 
to the subject of slavery, and which was a fail- 
exposition and indorsement by the Governor of 
the principles of his party, as contended for by 
them during the canvass which resulted in placing 
them and him in power in the State of Kentucky. 

I will read the resolutions offered and voted for 
by the Democratic members of the lower branch 
of the Legislature; as also the substitute offered 
and carried by the Americans, by a majority of 
fourteen; thirty-five Democrats voting against 
the substitute, and forty-nine Know Nothings 
voting for it. 

44 Resolved by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth 
of Kentucky, Tlmi in regard to the power which Congress 
had to puss the Missouri compromise, or to establish a geo¬ 
graphical line, by which slavery was inhibited in the Terri¬ 
tories north of that line, we indorse and adopt the following 
extract from Governor Morehead’s message : 

44 4 The Federal Government, in its original organization, 
conformed itself most wisely to the then condition of the 
people and the property it was intended to protect. Slavery 
then existed in most of the States. The Constitution did 
not pretend to make any change whatever in the relation of 
master and slave. The property in slaves, such as it was, 
preexisted, and the Constitution recognized it without lim¬ 
itation, and extended to the owner its unqualified protec¬ 
tion. It created no property, but recognized whatever was 
property in the States as such, and left it in the condition 
in which it was found. When it speaks of property, what¬ 
ever was made so by any of the States was what was 
intended. It did not undertake to define what was or was 
not property. 

44 4 The Federal Government, being one of limited powers, 
cannot impart to or take from anything its attribute of prop¬ 
erty. If it cannot establish slavery in a Territory, it cannot 
destroy it. Whatever is property in any one of the States, 
if carried into a Territory, cannot lose its character of prop¬ 
erty by the action of the General Government. 

44 4 1 am deeply and profoundly impressed with the con¬ 
viction, that the only safety to the Union is the firm estab¬ 
lishment of the doctrine, that the Federal Government 
should abstain unconditionally front all hostile action upon 
the subject of slavery. It is a government for the slave¬ 
holding States as well as the free, and it has no right to 
throw even its moral influence against the tenure of prop¬ 
erty recognized as such by any of its constituent parts. It 
would be a gross prostitution of its powers and a departure 
from the objects of its organization to do so. As a common 
government for all the States, it never was intended by its 
trainers, that it should discriminate between the property 
of one State or one section and another. Equality is the 
law of its existence.’ ” 

Mr. E. 0. Brown (Know Nothing) offered the 
following amendment as a substitute for said res¬ 
olution: 

“ Resolved, That obedience to the Constitution of the 
United States, and all laws passed by Congress in pursu¬ 
ance thereof, is sacredly obligatory upon the citizens of the 
States, and that the Supreme Court of the United States is 
the pjjtfper tribunal in the last resort to determine the con¬ 
stitutional enactments of Congress ; and that we utterly re¬ 
pudiate the higher law doctrines of the North, as well as 
the seceding and nullifying doctrines of the South and 
North, as exhibited first by the South, in the attempt by 
South Carolina to evade the tariff laws, and more recently 
by Massachusetts in her effort, by State authority, to evade 
the lugitive slave act.” 


At the same session of the Legislature, Mr, 
Martin, a Democratic member of the Kentucky 
Senate, offered the following as an amendment 
to a resolution offered in the Senate by the Know 
Nothings, and it was voted down by a majority 
of five, fifteen Democrats voting for it, and twenty 
Know Nothings voting against it. 

The amendment offered by Mr. Martin reads 
as follows: “ That no religious test shall ever be 
required as a qualification to any office or public 
trust under the United States. ” 

Now, Mr. Chairman, having treated some¬ 
what of the organization of Know Nothingism, 
and having remarked briefly oh some of its first 
fruits, and having called the attention of the com¬ 
mittee to so much of the oaths and obligations 
of the order as seem to be in deadly conflict with 
the Federal Constitution, I will proceed, with 
the indulgence of the committee, to consider the 
legislation intended by the organization if it suc¬ 
ceeds in obtaining a majority in Congress. First, 
they propose an amendment of the naturalization 
laws, by extending the time of residence in the 
country of all foreigners from five years (as 
agreed upon by the administration of President 
Washington) to twenty-one years, as contend¬ 
ed for by the Federal party under the lead of 
the elder Adams and Rufus King, and others of 
the old Federal school of politicians. And sec¬ 
ondly, they demand the passage of stringent 
laws by Congress, preventing the emigration of 
what they call paupers (poor persons) and crim-* 
inals into this country. To both of these propo¬ 
sitions I stand opposed; and shall proceed briefly 
to give the reasons of my opposition. 

In the first place, I hold that the Know Nothing 
organization is but a faction—not entitled to be 
considered a party in the country; and that,even 
if what legislation they propose was feasible, the 
first duty of the statesman is, to put down the 
faction, and then proceed to consider whether 
any additional legislation is necessary for the 
public good. But this is not my principal objec¬ 
tion to an alteration of the naturalization laws. 
My objections are founded in the belief that there 
can be no amendment to the naturalization laws 
which will accomplish as much good to the coun¬ 
try as the laws as they now stand, if properly 
administered. I will read the section of the law 
proposed to be amended. It is the third section, 
and was passed January 29, 1795, and approved 
by President Washington: 

‘‘That the court admitting: such alien shall he satisfied 
that he has resided within the United States five years at least, 
and within the State or Territory where such court is at the 
time held one year at least; audit shall further appear to 
their satisfaction, that during that time he has behaved as a 
man of good moral character, attached to the principles of the 
Constitution, and well-disposed towards the good order and 
happiness of the same : Provided, That his oath shall in no 
case he taken to prove his residence .” 

Now, Mr. Chairman, the issue between intense 
Americanism and myself on this subject is, that 
the words 44 five years’’shall be stricken out, and 
the words, 44 twenty-one years” inserted; or,in 
other language, that the views of Washington 
and his constitutional advisers shall be surren¬ 
dered, and the opinions of the elder Adams and 
Rufus King shall be substituted. It is proper, 










5 


sir, before we repeal a law, that we should under¬ 
stand the law, and, above all, the principle of it. 
It will not do to repeal a law, merely because it is 
assumed that the law is not properly executed, and 
enact one still more stringent, in hopes that it will 
be executed. To admit that there is not virtue 
and intelligence enough in the country to execute 
the laws, legally and constitutionally enacted, 
puts an end to all legislation; for we have no 
reason to assume that, if the officers and citizens 
will not enforce one, they will enforce another 
law, and it is equally idle to suppose that a lib¬ 
erty-loving people (and it is the people at last 
who execute all our laws) would execute a more 
stringent one on the same subject; but it is the 
principles of the law as it now stands that I pro¬ 
pose to inquire into, and they are— morality, intel¬ 
ligence, devotion, and loyalty. The residence of 
five years, provided for in the act, merely places 
the emigrant in the condition of a candidate for 
citizenship. He must, after his residence of five 
years, satisfy (not prove by corrupt icitness ) the 
court, first, of his five years ’ residence; second, of 
his morality; third, of his attachment to the Con¬ 
stitution; and fourthly, of his devotion or good 
disposition to the same. I repeat the words, sat¬ 
isfy the court, not by witness, as before stated, but 
in any way the court may direct; and unless he 
does satisfy the court in regard to his morality, in¬ 
telligence, and loyalty, he cannot and ought not 
to become a citizen of this great Republic of free¬ 
men, even although he might have lived in the 
country twice twenty-one years. The other legis¬ 
lation contemplated by this new order is the pas¬ 
sage of a stringent law by Congress, prohibiting 
the immigration into this country of paupers and 
convicts. 

Now, Mr. Chairman, while I am opposed to 
the passage of a stringent law by Congress upon 
this subject, it does not follow that I am opposed 
to all proper legislation in relation to vagabonds, 
paupers, and convicts, even to interdicting their 
coming into this country under any circumstan¬ 
ces. My opposition to Know Nothingism in 
this particular is, opposition to the manner rather 
than to the matter of the proposed legislation. 

Mr. Chairman, I have searched the Constitu¬ 
tion diligently, and have not been able to find any 
authority for the interference of Congress with 
this subject. As to who shall become an inhab¬ 
itant of the States of this Union is a question for 
the individual States to decide, each for itself. Con¬ 
gress possesses no power to interfere with the in¬ 
ternal or police arrangements of the several States. 
The Supreme Court of the United States, in the 
case of the city of New York vs. Miln, (11 Peters’s 
Reports, page 129,) decided the question against 
Congress, and in favor of the States. In the case 
\ d the Supreme Court says: 

“But we do not place our opinion on this "round, ( i. e. of a 
collision between State and national legislation)—we choose 
rather to plant ourselves on what we consider impregna¬ 
ble positions. They are these : that a State has the same 
undeniable and unlimited jurisdiction over all persons and 
things within its territorial limits as any foreign nation, 
when that jurisdiction is not surrendered or restrained by the 
Constitution of the United States. That by virtue of this, 
it is not only the right, but the bounden and solemn duty of 
a State to advance the safety, happiness, and prosperity of 
its people, and to provide for its general welfare by any and 


every act of legislation which it may deem to be con¬ 
ducive to these ends, when the power of the particular 
subject or the manner of its exercise is not surrendered or 
restrained in the manner just stated. That all those pow¬ 
ers which relate to merely municipal legislation, or what 
may perhaps more properly be called internal police, are not 
those surrendered or restrained ; and that, consequently,in 
relation to these, the authority of a State is complete, un¬ 
qualified, and exclusive .” 

But even if this question had not been decided 
by the highest judicial authority in the country, 
I would not hesitate to deny to Congress, upon 
the principle of State sovereignty, any authority 
over the question of who should, or who should 
not, become inhabitants of any one of the several 
States of this Confederacy. I cannot see any dif¬ 
ference in the power of Congress to declare what 
shall not be, than to declare what shall be. If 
Congress has the authority to declare who shall 
not settle in a State, has it not the power to de¬ 
clare who shall, and, by the exercise of this dan¬ 
gerous and extraordinary power, destroy the last 
attribute of State sovereignty ? 

Air. COX (interrupting) said: If it were not 
unconstitutional for Congress to pass a law to 
prevent the bringing into the country of crim¬ 
inals and paupers, would my colleague vote for 
such a law ? 

Mr. JEWETT said, in reply, that he had then 
before him the laws of the various States where 
this evil was supposed to exist, on the subject 
referred to by his colleague, and that the State 
laws seemed to be stringent enough. 

Now, Air. Chairman, having shown from un¬ 
doubted authority that Congress has no power 
to legislate oh the subject of criminals, and that 
the power over the subject of emigration (except 
to establish a uniform rule of naturalization) be¬ 
longs to the States, I will read for the considera¬ 
tion of the committee and the country, portions of 
the legislative enactments bearing directly on the 
subject under discussion, in those States where 
there is most emigration: 

“ Sec. 1. No captain or master of any vessel, or any other 
erson or persons, shall knowingly or willingly import, 
ring, or send, or cause or procure to be imported, brought, 
or sent, or be aiding or assisting therein, into this State, by 
land or water, any felon, convict, or person under sentence 
of death or transportation, or any other legal disability in¬ 
curred by a criminal prosecution, except for treason, or who 
shall he delivered or sent to him from any prison or place of 
confinement, in any place without the State. 

u Sec. 2. Every person who shall offend against any of the 
provisions of the preceding section shall be deemed guilty 
of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall be pun¬ 
ished by imprisonment in the county jail for a term not less 
less than three months, and shall forfeit and pay, moreover, 
the sum of one thousand dollars for each of such convicts 
so imported, brought, or sent, into this State, one half of 
which penalty shall go to him or her who shall sue or pros¬ 
ecute for the same, and the other half to the county in which 
such prosecution shall be had.”—Law of California in re¬ 
lation to Convicts, tife., 4'c-, passed April II, 1850. 

I will not stop, Mr. Chairman, to read other 
provisions of the laws of California on the sub¬ 
ject of paupers; they are well guarded and suffi¬ 
ciently stringent to secure the end desired. Nor 
will I take up the time of the committee in read- 
1 ing from the passenger and emigration laws of 
1 the States of Alassachusetts, New York, Penn¬ 
sylvania, and other States interested in the sub- 
| ject, which I have before me, and which I prom¬ 
ised to read, but will content myself by stating, 












6 


that 1 have examined carefully the laws of the 
States last mentioned in regard to emigration, 
&c., and find them carefully worded, and con¬ 
taining ample provisions to secure the country 
against the influx of paupers and criminals. 

Mr. Chairman, there is another question which 
is made by the Know Nothing party to cut a 
very conspicuous figure in the elections, which I 
desire briefly to notice. It is the Catholic ques¬ 
tion—a question of great interest to me, not only 
because many of my immediate constituents are 
Catholics—yes, sir, Roman Catholics—but be¬ 
cause the State in which I was born and raised 
was settled by Catholics. 

Now, Mr. Chairman, while I disclaim any in¬ 
tention of entering upon a defense of the Catho¬ 
lic religion, I would be reckless of my duty to 
my constituents, Catholic and Protestant, were I 
to sit quietly by and hear their patriotism as¬ 
sailed, without raising my voice, however feeble 
it may be, in their defense. I repeat, sir, that I 
am not charged with the defense of the religion 
of any portion of my constituents—that defense 
is intrusted to abler hands than mine; and I am 
proud to know that, in so far as the charge of 
anti-republicanism has been made against the 
Catholic church, in the United States, it has been 
ably and successfully defended. 

But, sir, when the whole Catholic population 
(my constituents included) are charged with a 
want of true patriotism and valor—when charged 
on this floor with disloyalty to the State, and a 
want of real devotion to the Union and the Con¬ 
stitution, then, sir, it becomes my duty as a Rep¬ 
resentative in the American Congress, not only to 
stand up and speak in their defense, but, with all 
the power of my good right arm, hurl back upon 
its authors the unjust imputation made, of a want 
of devotion to country by my Catholic constitu¬ 
ents. Sir, a more hospitable and generous people 
cannot be found on the broad earth, than are the 
Catholics of my State and district. That they 
love their church, the religion of their fathers, 
and their God, is most true, and I honor them for 
it; and next to these, the Constitution and Union 
of these States. And from a long residence and 
intimate acquaintance with them, I am proud to 
say, here, in the presence of the Representatives 
of the American people, that their devotion to the 
former, in no wise conflicts with their fidelity to 
the latter. And he who doubts, let him but read 
the history of the Carroll family of Maryland, and 
particularly the character of, and services ren¬ 
dered his country by, the Rev. John Carroll, the 
first Catholic Archbishop of the United States; 
when, if he is an impartial man, he will doubt no 
longer. 

Mr. COX. Would my colleague vote for a 
man who believed in the temporal supremacy of 
a foreign potentate? 

Mr. JEWETT. I will answer my colleague; 
but I must first state that I know of none such 
in my State or district. I will, however, answer 
my colleague in the language of another. History 
informs me that, on a celebrated occasion, King 
James I. of England, I think it was, summoned 
the twelve judges of the King’s bench before him, 
and directed his attorney to propound to these 


judges certain questions touching his (the King’s) 
prerogative. To these questions, eleven of the 
judges responded in favor of the right claimed by 
the sovereign. The Lord Chief Justice Coke 
made no answer, of which he was instantly 
reminded by the Attorney General; when Sir 
Edward Coke replied: 

“ When the case happens , I shall do that which will be fit 
for a judge to do. ,} 

This is my answer to your question. 

Mr. COX. I have no doubt but that you would 
decide just as Lord Coke did. You are very 
capable of doing that. Lord Coke was a good 
Protestant, and he would have decided against the 
Catholics. 

Mr. JEWETT. Mr. Chairman, the party 
whose principles and policy I have just been con¬ 
sidering have presented to the country Mr. Fill¬ 
more, of New York, as their candidate for the 
Presidency, and claim for him the confidence and 
support of the southern people, on the ground 
that he is sound and reliable on the slavery ques¬ 
tion; and as an evidence of his soundness, they 
point us to the fugitive slave law and Mr. Fill¬ 
more’s approval of it, as evidence sufficient on that 
subject. I regret, Air. Chairman, that I cannot 
see in this single act of Air. Fillmore such evi¬ 
dence of nationality on this vexed question as I 
should like. It will be remembered that Air. Fill¬ 
more was elected to the Chief Alagistracy by the 
Whig party, and that one of the great and cardi¬ 
nal principles of that party -was undying hostility 
to the veto power, or, as they termed it, the “ one- 
man power.” It was a mooted question with that 
party for a long time whether the veto power 
should not be abridged; but finally, it was agreed 
that it should not be exercised by the President, 
except in cases of hasty legislation by Congress, 
or the passage of a law by that body clearly un¬ 
constitutional. It was under a banner on whose 
folds were emblazoned these principles that Mr. 
Fillmore and the Whig party marched into power 
in 1852; and during the time Air. Fillmore pre¬ 
sided over the Senate the fugitive slave law was 
brought forward and discussed, and before it 
passed the Senate, Air. Fillmore, by the death 
of General Taylor, became President. The bill 
passed both Houses of Congress; and all that 
was required to give it force and effect was the 
signature of the President. The bill being pre¬ 
sented to him, and after taking the opinion of the 
Attorney General, (a southern man,) he signed 
the bill, and it became a law of the land. But the 
great question for the consideration of the South 
is: Did he approve the bill because it was a right 
the South had, under the Constitution, to demand 
at his hands? or did he approve it to be consistent 
with his party and its principles, and not be the 
first to tear from its platform one of its principal 
planks? These are questions proper for the con¬ 
sideration of the South, and I submit them for 
their consideration without further comment, 
nothing doubting but that his congressional record 
will be fairly considered, and their action gov¬ 
erned accordingly. 

Mr. Chairman, the Democratic party have pre¬ 
sented to the American people for the Presidency 
James Buchanan, of Pennsylvania—a statesman 


» 















7 


\ 


of thirty-five years’ standing—a matt who en¬ 
joyed the confidence of Jackson, of Polk, and 
Pierce. No eulogy of him is required of me. 
Suffice it to say, that his name and fame are en¬ 
graven upon the hearts of the vicinage—they live 
in the memory of men. 

MEMORANDUM. 

I have been requested by friends of both polit¬ 
ical parties to furnish extracts of the territorial 
laws enacted within a few years past, so far as 
they relate to the right of suffrage, (or of voting,) 
and I take this method of complying with these 
numerous requests, from which it will be seen 
that the provisions of the several acts in regard 
to suffrage are substantially the same. 

Oregon Territory. 

“ Every white male inhabitant, above the age of twenty- 
one years, who shall have been a resident*)!* said Territory 
at the time of the passage of this act, and shall possess the 
qualifications hereinafter prescribed, shall be entitled lo vote 
at the first election, and shall be eligible to any office within 
the said Territory ; but the qualifications of voters and of 
holding office at all subsequent elections shall be such as 
shall be prescribed by the Legislative Assembly : Provided, 
That the right of suffrage and of holding office shall be ex 
ercised only by citizens of the United States above the age 
of twenty-one years, and those above that age who shall 
have declared, on oath, their intention to become such, and 
shall have taken an oath to support the Constitution of the 
United States, and the provisions of this act.” 

New Mexico. 

II Every free white male inhabitant above the age of 
twenty-one years, who shall have been a resident of said 
Territory at the time of the passage of this act, shall be 
entitled to vote at the first election, and shall be eligible to 
any office within the said Territory; but the qualifications 
of voters and of holding office at all subsequent elections 
shall be such as shall be prescribed by the Legislative As¬ 
sembly: Provided, That the right of suffrage and of hold¬ 
ing office shall be exercised only by citizens of the United 
States, including those recognized as citizens by the treaty 
with the Republic of Mexico, concluded February 2, 1848.” 

Utah Territory. 

u Every free white male inhabitant above the age of 
twenty-one years, who shall have been a resident of said 
Territory at the time of the passage of this act, shall be 


' entitled to vote at the first election, and shall be eligible to 
any office within the said Territory ; hut the qualifications 
of voters and of holding office at all subsequent elections 
shall be such as shall be prescribed by the Legislative As¬ 
sembly : Provided, That the right of suffrage and of hold¬ 
ing office shall be exercised only by citizens of the United 
, States, including those recognized by the treaty with the 
Republic of Mexico, concluded February 2, 4848.” 

Minnesota Territory. 

“ Every free white male inhabitant above the age of 
twenty-one years, who shall have been a resident of said 
Territory at the time of the passage of this act, shall be en¬ 
titled to vote at the first election, and shall be eligible to any 
office within the said Territory; but the qualifications of 
voters and of holdingoffiee at all subsequent elections shall 
be such as shall be prescribed by the Legislative Assembly : 
Provided, That the right of suffrage and of holding otfice 
shall be exercised only by citizens of the United States and 
those who shall have declared on oath their intention to be¬ 
come such, and shall have taken an oath to support the 
Constitution of the United States and the provisions of this 
act.” 

Nebraska and Kansas Territories. 

“ Every white male inhabitant above the age of twenty- 
one years, who shall be an actual resident of said Territory, 
and shall possess the qualifications hereinafter prescribed, 
shall be entitled to vote at the first election, and shall be 
eligible to any office within the said Territory ; but the 
qualifications of voters and of holding office at all subse¬ 
quent elections shall be such as shall be prescribed by the 
Legislative Assembly : Provided, That the right of suffrage 
and of holding office shall be exercised only by citizens of 
the United States, and those who shall have declared on 
oath their intention to become such, and shall have taken 
an oath to support the Constitution of the United States and 
the provisions of this act.” 

Washington Territory. 

11 Every white male inhabitant above the age of twenty- 
one years, who shall have been a resident of said Territory 
at the time of the passage of this act, and shall possess the 
qualifications hereinafter prescribed, shall be entitled to vote 
at the first election, and shall be eligible to any office within 
the said Territory; but the qualifications of voters, and of 
holding office at all subsequent elections, shall be such as 
shall be prescribed by the Legislative Assembly: Provided, 
That the right of suffrage, and of holding office, shall be 
exercised only by citizens of the United States above the 
age of twenty-one years, and those above that age who 
shall have declared on oath their intention to become such, 
and shall have taken an oath to support the Constitution 
of the United States and the provisions of this act.” 


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